Homeschooling is now a thing of the past in this house.
We've done it for 4 years and it was the best thing for our child for that time.
But.
Once he started Uni last year the genie was out of the bottle and it's been difficult to get him to settle back into homeschooling while he's taken a break from Uni.
And while his anxieties have climbed sky high.
The battles over schoolwork are just.not.worth.it.
So, we're hoping to enroll him in Distance Education Centre for next year.
He needs someone, other than myself, teaching him.
I'll be able to guide and support him at home but as a parent, not mum-teacher-lecturer-curriculum maker-excursion planner-person-to-argue-semantics-with all rolled into one.
Homeschooling is great; we are so lucky here in Victoria we are able to have that option to explore for our children when other mainstream schooling options are not suitable, but people change and Aspie teen has grown, matured and his needs are now different.
Like all things in life nothing is forever and this is the end of a chapter in our lives but also the beginning of another, newer, one next year.
Now we just need to fill in a bajillion forests' worth of paperwork and get things organised for him to be enrolled!
Showing posts with label university. Show all posts
Showing posts with label university. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Back again
Dad is back home and Aspie teen is more settled albeit more clingy.
Thank goodness we've come a long way since he was in mainstream school with his integration aide; we are able to discuss the future of his grandfather's health with him plus he's able to spend extra bonus time with Dad being at home.
Some things about nursing Dad at home are perfect life lessons Aspie teen could read about but have little understanding until it's unfolding right under his very nose. Hopefully these are helping cement the foundations for him to follow in how to care for the elderly/infirm in his future.
He's so happy with his Silkie hens, they are another learning curve for him and he's spreading his wings a little in his new role of responsibility. They've imprinted with him as their parent and answer to their names when he calls them. The fluffy little mop tops are so sweet and cute; they have cheeky little personalities which make them appear as silly haughty madames strutting about in the Victorian era in their finery.
They are both a great distraction and a grounding mechanism to keep him focussed in this sad time.
We have no idea how long Dad has but each day is a bonus so we have to strive for positive thinking and keeping our chins up which is difficult for a teen at times.
The 2 cases of young teens being sprayed with capsicum spray has certainly grabbed his attention; his parents warning him was one thing but the police actually using it on kids his own age has given him a bit of a wake up call.
He's off for an EEG this week and still banned from bicycle riding due to his slow reaction times. He missed his first cricket match of the season as we were tied up at the hospital (almost but not quite literally in that sense) but he took the disappointment ok, only a few mild Tourette's grunts and tics.
We'll be reviweing Aspie teen returning to Uni study soon, too.
He has asked many times and loves the uni subjects, we'll just take it slowly to see what subjects are on offer (in his preferred field of study) and what really catches his interest (even those outside of his subject area).
Maybe a better time for him to start again, we'll see.
Thank goodness we've come a long way since he was in mainstream school with his integration aide; we are able to discuss the future of his grandfather's health with him plus he's able to spend extra bonus time with Dad being at home.
Some things about nursing Dad at home are perfect life lessons Aspie teen could read about but have little understanding until it's unfolding right under his very nose. Hopefully these are helping cement the foundations for him to follow in how to care for the elderly/infirm in his future.
He's so happy with his Silkie hens, they are another learning curve for him and he's spreading his wings a little in his new role of responsibility. They've imprinted with him as their parent and answer to their names when he calls them. The fluffy little mop tops are so sweet and cute; they have cheeky little personalities which make them appear as silly haughty madames strutting about in the Victorian era in their finery.
They are both a great distraction and a grounding mechanism to keep him focussed in this sad time.
We have no idea how long Dad has but each day is a bonus so we have to strive for positive thinking and keeping our chins up which is difficult for a teen at times.
The 2 cases of young teens being sprayed with capsicum spray has certainly grabbed his attention; his parents warning him was one thing but the police actually using it on kids his own age has given him a bit of a wake up call.
He's off for an EEG this week and still banned from bicycle riding due to his slow reaction times. He missed his first cricket match of the season as we were tied up at the hospital (almost but not quite literally in that sense) but he took the disappointment ok, only a few mild Tourette's grunts and tics.
We'll be reviweing Aspie teen returning to Uni study soon, too.
He has asked many times and loves the uni subjects, we'll just take it slowly to see what subjects are on offer (in his preferred field of study) and what really catches his interest (even those outside of his subject area).
Maybe a better time for him to start again, we'll see.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The crystal ball is a tad fuzzy today
Aspie teen wants to become a paleontologist and archaeologist, the path on which he was well set when the brain fartage became so bad he snapped and had to withdraw from his 6th university unit.
One of his many heroes is Dr Zahi Hawass, the legendary Egyptian archaeologist.
So Aspie teen was most impressed to see the new doco series following him around in his work Chasing Mummies.
The kid is a walking, talking encyclopedia on a myriad of subjects but dinosaurs, archaeology, cultures and old stuff are his specialty.
I just wish there was a way for him to achieve his dream without any further stress but at this moment we don't know if the meltdowns trigger the partial seizures (which doesn't involve dropping to the ground or losing consciousness but is more a blanked out moment like staring off into the distance) or if the partial seizures trigger the meltdowns.
The fact we can go for days on end asking him to do the very things that appear to cause meltdowns at other times tells me there's something more going on and the complex partial seizures is a good candidate.
We've changed his homeschooling schedule and have learned to make it flexible so that we can duck and dodge on the days he wakes up dopey and hungover when it's possible he's had partial seizures in his sleep; these are the days his temper is on an uber-short fuse and the meltdowns are on a have-one-and-get-another-30-for-free offer.
It's an offer we'd love to refuse, really!
He may be returning to cricket but not riding his push-bike there, he might like Halloween but he won't be trick or treating (I don't have an issue with it being "too American" as some parts of Australia were celebrating it before some parts of America but it's the whole fact that he looks like he's 18 and too old) and we've had the big discussion of him never driving a car.
Yeah, we've dropped the big one.
I brought it up carefully over several months and have had opportunities to point out how his reactions are too slow for him to safely drive a car and react in time in situations where he'd need to suddenly brake, swerve, etc.
I think he's accepted the idea of public transport for the rest of his life but it's even more underscored by the possibility of these partial seziures and how he can be unreliable taking medication.
Or he may take to riding a broomstick around archaeology digs like his mother!
One of his many heroes is Dr Zahi Hawass, the legendary Egyptian archaeologist.
So Aspie teen was most impressed to see the new doco series following him around in his work Chasing Mummies.
The kid is a walking, talking encyclopedia on a myriad of subjects but dinosaurs, archaeology, cultures and old stuff are his specialty.
I just wish there was a way for him to achieve his dream without any further stress but at this moment we don't know if the meltdowns trigger the partial seizures (which doesn't involve dropping to the ground or losing consciousness but is more a blanked out moment like staring off into the distance) or if the partial seizures trigger the meltdowns.
The fact we can go for days on end asking him to do the very things that appear to cause meltdowns at other times tells me there's something more going on and the complex partial seizures is a good candidate.
We've changed his homeschooling schedule and have learned to make it flexible so that we can duck and dodge on the days he wakes up dopey and hungover when it's possible he's had partial seizures in his sleep; these are the days his temper is on an uber-short fuse and the meltdowns are on a have-one-and-get-another-30-for-free offer.
It's an offer we'd love to refuse, really!
He may be returning to cricket but not riding his push-bike there, he might like Halloween but he won't be trick or treating (I don't have an issue with it being "too American" as some parts of Australia were celebrating it before some parts of America but it's the whole fact that he looks like he's 18 and too old) and we've had the big discussion of him never driving a car.
Yeah, we've dropped the big one.
I brought it up carefully over several months and have had opportunities to point out how his reactions are too slow for him to safely drive a car and react in time in situations where he'd need to suddenly brake, swerve, etc.
I think he's accepted the idea of public transport for the rest of his life but it's even more underscored by the possibility of these partial seziures and how he can be unreliable taking medication.
Or he may take to riding a broomstick around archaeology digs like his mother!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Carved in concrete
I just tried explaining the Welcome to Holland analogy to my Aspie teen who sort of got it after I went through it step-by-step.
That's the thing - he studies at uni level yet he still doesn't quite catch the unspoken that we neurotypicals all automatically understand.
And that is where we still have some breakdowns in communication.
That's the thing - he studies at uni level yet he still doesn't quite catch the unspoken that we neurotypicals all automatically understand.
And that is where we still have some breakdowns in communication.
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